Newsletter

K-State's Klein, OU's Jones fitting leaders

Oklahoma’s Landry Jones, left, and Kansas State’s Collin Klein have different styles, but both have found success.

MANHATTAN — Anyone who has seen Oklahoma and Kansas State play football this season can appreciate the contrasting styles the two teams offer.

On one side you have the Sooners, picked in the preseason to win the league and even the national title. They received more accolades and recognition before the season even started than any other team in the nation, save maybe a pair of teams from the SEC.

Kansas State, on the other hand, was picked eighth of 10 teams in the Big 12 and is seemingly the eternal underdog in their quest to stay undefeated.

It’s fitting then, that no two players exemplify these themes more than quarterbacks Landry Jones and Collin Klein.

Klein leads a group of unheralded Wildcats each week, scrambling on broken plays and doing whatever he can to keep drives alive and score.

Not to say Jones doesn’t do the same, but with big-name receivers and a reputation as one of the nation’s better pocket passers, he gets the job done a bit differently.

Pressuring Jones has been tough for every opposing team this season. K-State head coach Bill Snyder joked that maybe if he had 13 defenders on the field they could bring him down.

“He gets the ball out of his hands so quickly,” Snyder said. “Sometimes he’s going to throw the ball a little further down the field and that requires more time, but he’s got a good offensive line in front of him.”

While sacking Jones won’t be easy, keeping him pressured and staying disciplined in the secondary is a must.

“We’ve done a better job in terms of our pass rush, and that hasn’t always resulted in sacks, though I think we’re ahead of where we were last year,” Snyder said. “But I think we disrupt throws sometimes and that helps our secondary and our pass coverage.

“Our youngsters have been pretty good about being where they’re supposed to be and doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”

While Jones wreaks havoc from the pocket, Klein is a threat to take off at any moment running the football, something that’s been hard for opposing defenses to prepare for.

“They run the ball with the quarterback and running back about any way that’s ever been invented to run the football, which will be a lot of work to cancel gaps and be structurally sound against it,” said Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops at his Tuesday news conference. “They do a good job executing their run game, and the quarterback is the focal part of it.”

Klein knows Jones is a much different type of quarterback but was able to make one comparison.

“I don’t know Landry that well, but I do know that both of us want to win very badly and will do anything for our team to succeed,” Klein said. “And I respect him for that.”